1 Samuel 17
17
1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephesdammim. 2Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span#17:4 A cubit is the length from the tip of the middle finger to the elbow on a man’s arm, or about 18 inches or 46 centimeters. A span is the length from the tip of a man’s thumb to the tip of his little finger when his hand is stretched out (about half a cubit, or 9 inches, or 22.8 cm.) Therefore, Goliath was about 9 feet and 9 inches or 2.97 meters tall. went out. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels#17:5 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 5000 shekels is about 50 kilograms or 110 pounds. of bronze. 6He had bronze shin armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron.#17:7 A shekel is about 10 grams or about 0.35 ounces, so 600 shekels is about 6 kilograms or about 13 pounds. His shield bearer went before him. 8He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” 10The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. 12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. 15Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah#17:17 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 18and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. 21Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. 22David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. 24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified. 25The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house tax-free in Israel.”
26David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
27The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
29David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” 30He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way. 31When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
34David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35I went out after him, struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, struck him, and killed him. 36Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37David said, “Yahweh, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go! Yahweh will be with you.”
38Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. 39David strapped his sword on his clothing and he tried to move, for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these, for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off.
40He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine. 41The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. 43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the field.”
45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that Yahweh doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is Yahweh’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
48When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand in his bag, took a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. 51Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron. 53The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. 55When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”
Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.”
56The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”
57As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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1 Samuel 17: WEBUS
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PUBLIC DOMAIN (not copyrighted)
1 Samuel 17
17
The Challenge of Goliath. 1The Philistines rallied their forces for battle at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelites rallied and camped in the valley of the Elah, drawing up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3The Philistines were stationed on one hill and the Israelites on an opposite hill, with a valley between them.
4A champion named Goliath of Gath came out from the Philistine camp; he was six cubits and a span#Six cubits and a span: about nine feet nine inches (a cubit equals about eighteen inches; a span equals about eight inches). The Greek text and 4QSama read: “four cubits and a span” (six feet nine inches). The description of the Philistine’s might and his powerful weapons contrasts with the picture of the youthful David who trusts in God. tall. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a bronze breastplate of scale armor weighing five thousand shekels, 6bronze greaves, and had a bronze scimitar slung from his shoulders. 7The shaft of his javelin was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron head weighed six hundred shekels.#Six hundred shekels: over fifteen pounds. His shield-bearer went ahead of him.#2 Sm 21:19; 1 Chr 11:23; 20:5. 8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel: “Why come out in battle formation? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants. Choose one of your men, and have him come down to me. 9If he beats me in combat and kills me, we will be your vassals; but if I beat him and kill him, you shall be our vassals and serve us.” 10The Philistine continued: “I defy the ranks of Israel today. Give me a man and let us fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard this challenge of the Philistine, they were stunned and terrified.
David Comes to the Camp.#Here the final editor begins an alternative account of David’s encounter with the Philistine hero, which continues in vv. 50–51 and concludes in 17:55–18:5. 12David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. In the days of Saul Jesse was old and well on in years.#1 Sm 16:1, 10; Ru 1:2. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to war; the names of these three sons who had gone off to war were Eliab the firstborn; Abinadab the second; and Shammah the third. 14David was the youngest. While the three oldest had joined Saul, 15David would come and go from Saul’s presence to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.#1 Sm 16:11; 18:2; 2 Sm 7:8; Ps 78:70–71.
16Meanwhile the Philistine came forward and took his stand morning and evening for forty days.
17Now Jesse said to his son David: “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves for your brothers, and bring them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18Also take these ten cheeses for the field officer. Greet your brothers and bring home some token from them. 19Saul and your brothers, together with all Israel, are at war with the Philistines in the valley of the Elah.” 20Early the next morning, having left the flock with a shepherd, David packed up and set out, as Jesse had commanded him. He reached the barricade of the camp just as the army, on their way to the battleground, were shouting their battle cry.#1 Sm 26:5. 21The Israelites and the Philistines drew up opposite each other in battle array. 22David entrusted what he had brought to the keeper of the baggage and hastened to the battle line, where he greeted his brothers.#1 Sm 25:13. 23While he was talking with them, the Philistine champion, by name Goliath of Gath, came up from the ranks of the Philistines and spoke as before, and David listened. 24When the Israelites saw the man, they all retreated before him, terrified. 25The Israelites had been saying: “Do you see this man coming up? He comes up to insult Israel. The king will make whoever kills him a very wealthy man. He will give his daughter to him and declare his father’s family exempt from taxes in Israel.”#1 Sm 18:17; Jos 15:16. 26David now said to the men standing near him: “How will the man who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from disgrace be rewarded? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should insult the armies of the living God?”#1 Sm 18:25; Dt 5:26; Jgs 15:18; 2 Kgs 19:4; Is 37:4; Jer 10:10. 27They repeated the same words to him and said, “That is how the man who kills him will be rewarded.” 28When Eliab, his oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he grew angry with David and said: “Why did you come down? With whom have you left those sheep in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and dishonest heart. You came down to enjoy the battle!”#1 Sm 16:6. 29David protested, “What have I done now? I was only talking.” 30He turned from him to another and asked the same question; and everyone gave him the same answer as before. 31The words that David had spoken were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
David Challenges Goliath. 32Then David spoke to Saul: “My lord should not lose heart. Let your servant go and fight this Philistine.” 33But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34#Jgs 14:6; Sir 47:3. Then David told Saul: “Your servant used to tend his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or bear came to carry off a sheep from the flock, 35I would chase after it, attack it, and snatch the prey from its mouth. If it attacked me, I would seize it by the throat, strike it, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God.”
37David continued: “The same Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! the Lord will be with you.”#Prv 28:1.
Preparation for the Encounter. 38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, putting a bronze helmet on his head and arming him with a coat of mail. 39David also fastened Saul’s sword over the tunic. He walked with difficulty, however, since he had never worn armor before. He said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. With his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.
David’s Victory. 41#The two combatants trade theological taunts. God uses the most unlikely opponent to destroy Goliath. With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. 42When he sized David up and saw that he was youthful, ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he began to deride him. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods 44and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”#Dt 28:26; Ps 79:2–3; Is 18:6; Jer 7:33; 15:3. 45David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have insulted. 46Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. 47All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle belongs to the Lord, who shall deliver you into our hands.”#1 Sm 14:6, 10; Ps 33:16.
48The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck the Philistine dead, and did it without a sword in his hand.#1 Mc 4:30; Sir 47:4. 51Then David ran and stood over him; with the Philistine’s own sword which he drew from its sheath he killed him, and cut off his head.#1 Sm 21:10.
Flight of the Philistines. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah sprang up with a battle cry and pursued them to the approaches of Gath and to the gates of Ekron, and Philistines fell wounded along the road from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53When they returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, the Israelites looted their camp. 54#1 Sm 31:9. David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he kept Goliath’s armor in his own tent.#Jerusalem was a Jebusite city; it came under Israelite control only at the beginning of David’s rule. As a young shepherd, David would not have had a military tent. In 21:10, Goliath’s sword is in the Nob temple.
David Presented to Saul. 55As Saul watched David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked his general Abner, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied, “On your life, O king, I have no idea.”#1 Sm 14:50. 56And the king said, “Find out whose son the lad is.” 57So when David returned from slaying the Philistine, Abner escorted him into Saul’s presence. David was still holding the Philistine’s head. 58Saul then asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc